Bound and Breaking
by thisislandgirl
Summary: When an old SEAL buddy of Steve's shows up unannounced, Steve discovers his friend is neck deep in dangerous intelligence and being hunted. The information is passed on to Steve so he and Five-0 can look into it, but he quickly finds himself in the crosshairs of a dangerous group that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
1. Chapter 1

**PART ONE**

By the time he reaches the bar, it's quite crowded, even for a Wednesday night. It takes Steve a few minutes to navigate through the crowds to find the person he is looking for. When he does, a smile lights up his face.

"Jacks!" he calls out as he nears the table. He watches in amusement as the man's head snaps towards him.

"Well hell, if it ain't Smooth Dog," he quickly stands and pulls Steve in a one-armed hug. When he pulls away, he eyes Steve up and down with a smirk. "I see the reserves haven't made you soft," he says, giving Steve's exposed stomach a playful jab.

"Wish I could say the same to you, jackass." Steve eyes his friend critically and doesn't like what he sees. Jacks isn't quite the man he used to be, a little larger and softer around the middle, curly hair growing out and unkempt, a few weeks' growth of a beard covers the bottom half of his haggard face, and eyes bloodshot with exhaustion.

When he'd answered his phone last night and heard Jack's voice on the other end, he'd been elated. There had been something in that voice, though, that had bothered Steve. Seeing Jacks in person only verifies his suspicions.

"Fuck you, Dog," Jack spits out with a laugh as he slumps back down into his chair. He's managed to find a relatively quiet part of the bar.

The position of the table and Jacks, however, doesn't pass by Steve. Jacks picked the corner-most table where he could have his back to a wall and the greatest vantage of most of the bar. He's being vigilant, Steve knows, a habit that was hard to break after so many years being watchful and a bit paranoid. The little pieces of the puzzle are coming together and Steve doesn't like where all of this is heading.

Still, he sits down across from Jacks, turning so his back is against the wall as well. He'll follow Jack's lead for now. He flags down a passing waitress and orders a beer, then waits patiently for Jacks to start.

"So Hawaii, huh?"

"Yeah. Came back for my father's funeral and found a reason not to leave again," Steve states simply.

"Ah shit. Sorry to hear about your dad. Never did get a chance to tell ya before you left," Jacks slides his fingers through the condensation on the bottle in front of him, brows drawn together in concentration. He swallows thickly before meeting Steve's eyes again. "It all kinda went to shit after you left, but the guys understood."

Steve nods, appreciating the sentiment. After receiving that call, things had moved pretty quickly. He'd been packed up and boarding a plane in the blink of an eye. He hadn't had a chance to talk to his team, leaving someone else to deliver the news to them. He hated leaving his team, the most important people in his life, like that without so much as an explanation. Knowing they understood, though, felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"When did you get out?" Steve asks, smiling briefly as the waitress brings over his beer. He takes a slow sip and watches as a fleeting look passes over Jack's face before he looks up.

"'Bout a year ago. Took a round in the hip trying to extract a high value target from a hostile area. Got a medical discharge and went into the private sector." Jacks shrugs casually, belying the seriousness of the situation.

Steve knew Jacks the best out of his entire team. He'd enlisted with Jacks, went through BUD/s with him, went on countless missions with him. Steve knew how much being in the Navy, being a SEAL, meant to Jacks, so he knew for a fact that this wasn't just something he could shrug off. Jacks was just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

"I heard the private sector pays well," Steve can't quite keep the ice out of his voice as he speaks and knows it too by the look that crosses his friend's face.

"Yeah, I heard about Bullfrog. Man that was fucked up." Jacks shakes his head. "It ain't like that though, not my gig. I get paid to sit in a chair and watch monitors all day and to babysit high value targets." Jacks smiles then, the real smile Steve remembers from his friend. "Course, it's nothing like being a badge or anything."

Steve can't help himself, he laughs at that. He plucks his badge from his belt and plunks it down on the table in front of his friend. Jacks picks it up and inspects it for a moment, whistling low to himself.

"Damn, Dog. I heard you got yourself a nice set up here. Head of a special task force. You never slow down, do ya?"  
"Never," Steve replies, sliding the badge back into place. "So what brings you to Hawaii, Jacks? And don't tell me for the beaches."

"What?! Can't a guy take a vacation once and a while? I just wanted some R and R."

"Bullshit." Steve eyes Jacks critically. Jacks has never once lied to his face. "You hate the beach. You love the ocean, but I know for a fact how much you loathe sand. Don't feed me that bullshit. Shoot straight."

Jacks takes a long pull from his beer, eyes skipping over the crowd almost nervously before he settles on Steve once again.

"You're right, I came here to see you." When Steve starts to protest, Jacks shakes his head and stands up. "Not here."

He takes off out the door of the bar and Steve has no choice but to follow, dropping a twenty on the table to cover their bill. When he makes it out behind the bar, he finds Jacks standing a few feet from the sand watching the water.

"What's going on, Jacks?" Steve questions as he comes to stand next to his friend. He can read the tension in Jack's shoulders, in the set of his jaw.

"Someone is following me," he states quietly. After a moment's hesitation, he cuts a glance at Steve. "And don't bother giving me that 'you're just paranoid from being at war' bullshit. I know damn well how to track and assess a threat, just like you. I'm not imagining it, Steve."

Steve takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. To anyone else, it would sound far-fetched. Steve, however, knows Jacks, he can read the fear and anxiousness in every inch of his body. Whatever has him spooked, it's real.

"All right. Tell me what's going on."

Steve steers Jacks through the parking lot, towards his truck. If someone is following him, it's best not to discuss it out in the open. They drive in tense silence for a few miles, taking as many turns as possible and looping back around twice before Steve parks them in a deserted parking lot near the water. A few cars had hung with them for a little while but the last car passed them a minute back, a quarter of a mile before they turned off.

When he turns to Jacks, he still doesn't look comfortable. He's got his eyes glued to the side mirror on the truck just waiting for headlights to appear. After a minute, he slowly lets out a breath and turns towards Steve.

"Two months after I was discharged, I took a job with Olympus Security in Texas. The owner hired me as a consultant to enhance his security company, then next thing I knew, I was working as his personal security as well. Everything was fine." Jacks sighs heavily and scrubs a hand across his face and through his hair. "Then a few months in, I saw something on one of the monitors. Some of the guys were loading crates into an SUV. It was suspicious so I started poking around quietly. It's just instinct, ya know?

"It didn't take long before I found out that … well let's just say that my boss was up to no good. I started collecting evidence, copying videos from the cameras before they were scrubbed, copying personnel files and reports, things like that. I was quiet about it, never mentioned it to anyone. I covered my tracks." Jacks turns away from Steve to look out the windshield, face tense. "About a month ago, I started to notice they were icing me out; giving me low level jobs, keeping me out of the security room, things like that. Then I spotted the tail. And last week, I came home to find my apartment had been tossed. My computer destroyed and everything torn apart. They didn't find the floor safe though."

Jacks holds his hand out to Steve revealing a small flash drive.

"They are looking for this. It's all the evidence I collected against them."

"Why haven't you turned it over to the cops or the FBI?" Steve asks, eying the flash drive and wondering what could possibly cause such an ordeal.

"I tried. After I found my apartment tossed, I rabbited. I grabbed my go-bag and the flash drive and left town. Once I was sure I was safe, I contacted someone in the FBI and set up a meeting. But then two days ago, an hour before the meeting was scheduled, I felt like I was being followed again." Jacks curls his fingers around the flash drive again and drops his hand to the seat between them. "I can't escape them. I'm sorry, Steve, I didn't know who else to call."

"What can I do, Jacks?" Steve reaches out and squeezes Jack's shoulder, letting him know that he isn't alone in this anymore.

"I didn't want to involve you in this. These guys are dangerous, Steve. They're all ex-military or former cops." Jacks shakes his head, starting to shut down but Steve grips his shoulder harder.

"Tell me, Jacks. What do you need me to do?" When Jacks doesn't respond, Steve gives him a small shake. "You aren't alone in this."

With a sigh, Jacks nods his head. "I need you to keep this safe." He folds the flash drive into Steve's palm. "If anything happens to me, I need you to make sure this gets into the right hands."

Steve nods. "Of course. What else?"

Jacks just shakes his head. "Nothing. The rest of this is my fight."

Steve watches as Jacks instantly shuts down right in front of him, face going expressionless, eyes staring straight ahead. He nods again, mostly to himself, knowing he won't get anything else out of Jacks, at least not tonight. Instead, he slides the flash drive into his pocket and turns over the ignition in the truck, leaving the dark parking lot in the rearview.

They drive in silence the whole way back to the bar. Jacks sits stiff in the passenger seat, gaze pinned straight ahead out the windshield. Steve glances over at him a few times, but Jacks never thaws out.

When they pull in the parking lot, Jacks doesn't hesitate to open the door and get out of Steve's truck. He starts to close the door, then pauses for a moment. He glances up at Steve, meeting his eyes with a determined look on his face. For a moment, Steve thinks he's going to say something else, but the moment passes quickly. Instead, Jacks starts to close the door.

"You okay to drive home, Jacks?" Steve questions, though he already knows Jacks' answer before he even says it. It's enough to keep Jacks from closing the door all the way though.

"I'll be fine, Dog. I am never out of the fight." Jacks sighs out, though his face has lost some of the tension from before. After a moment, a small smile crinkles up the corners of his eyes and mouth. "Take care of yourself, Steve."

Before Steve can reply, the door is shut and Jacks slips into the shadows of the parking lot. _I am never out of the fight_, the words roll around in Steve's mind. He knows Jacks is talking about more than just tonight; he is talking about his future. Jacks is a tough son of a bitch; Steve had the honor of training and serving with him for years. He can take care of himself. Steve can't help but feel a niggling of worry, though, wondering if he should call in a few favors just in case.

He stays in the parking lot long enough to see Jacks slip into a car a few spaces away. Once the car is started, Steve puts the truck into gear and starts for home.

* * *

It's nearing midnight when Steve pulls into his driveway. With the last vestiges of paranoia wearing off, Steve had taken a few wrong turns and out of the way streets to shake a tail that wasn't there. What should have been a 12-minute drive from the bar to his house had taken nearly 45. He doesn't feel completely settled, though, until he's inside the house.

He breathes a small sigh of relief and almost feels stupid for getting so geared up. Almost, but not quite. It's hard to shake old habits and being with Jacks had triggered all those feelings once again. While most of it has passed, Steve knows he's still too keyed up to get some sleep yet so he heads into his office.

Turning on the laptop, Steve waits patiently for it to boot up while he contemplates the small flash-drive in his palm. Once again he finds himself wondering what could be on the device that could cause such a stir. He's seen enough, in both the Navy and Five-0, to know it could be almost anything. The information people squirrel away and consider top secret, the things they are willing to spill blood over, it's amazing. Knowing Jacks, however, crosses a few things off the list. Jacks wouldn't jump into something unless it had real, devastating effects. Could be drugs or guns, corruption, dirty deals, smuggling, trafficking, the possibilities are near endless.

Once the laptop is booted up, Steve slips the device into the drive and waits with bated breath as a window pops up on the screen. There is one encrypted folder on the drive with a simple name of 'Black'. Steve considers it for a minute before deciding to copy the information over to his computer.

'Secure copy?' a message pops up and Steve takes a moment to thank Danny for talking him into letting Toast 'update' his software. Steve clicks 'yes' and watches as the secure copy starts, the progress bar moving incredibly slow.

After ten minutes of staring at the slow moving green bar, Steve picks up the laptop and heads upstairs. No reason he can't try and get something accomplished while he's waiting for it to finish. He leaves the laptop on his bed to do its work and heads into the bathroom to take a shower.

Twenty minutes later, Steve is sitting, freshly showered and changed, on his bed watching as the progress bar finally ticks over from 99% to 100%. The moment he can, Steve tries to open the file and groans at the encryption screen that pops up. He should have known Jacks wouldn't go to all this trouble and not have a high-bit encryption on the file. It's something that is way too complex for him to even consider at 1am so he quickly powers down the laptop and palms the flash drive.

He heads downstairs with both items in his hands, intending only to deposit them on the desk, but the paranoia is starting to creep up on him again. Dropping the laptop on the desk for the night, he knows that since Toast had his hands on it, it's as secure as it can be. Steve moves toward the back door then. With the lights out, he has a clear view out the window. Pulling the curtain back the slightest bit, he watches the shadows of the night moving. Seeing nothing unusual, he engages the deadbolt and moves off to the front door. He watches the dark shapes moving around his yard, waiting for something to reveal itself. Nothing does. Shaking his head, Steve locks the door and punches in the alarm code, feeling a little more settle when the pad flashes green and 'secured' up at him.

Steve starts for the stairs, flash drive still in his palm, but stops at the foot of the steps. Moving a potted plant out of the way, Steve turns the handle on the small door, a quarter turn left, a full turn right, then another half turn left again before the small door pops open. Ducking his head in the small, dark space, Steve feels along the floor with practiced ease and slides a slat of the flooring away to expose a floor safe. His fingers make quick work of the combination, opening the heavy metal door. The flash drive is quickly deposited and the safe shut once again. Once the floor is back in place, the door latched and the plant once again resting in its normal spot, Steve finally gives into the exhaustion creeping up on him.

As he slides between the sheets, he takes a quick minute to dial Jacks' number. He listens to each ring with a feeling of unease slowly growing in the pit of his stomach. When the automated voicemail message starts speaking, Steve punches the "End" button with a little too much force and blows out a breath. Jacks is a tough son of a bitch; he can handle himself. Steve knows this, but it still doesn't abate his worry. He hadn't thought to check where Jacks was staying. He wishes he would've made sure Jacks got back there safe. He should've made sure they had a separate means of communication in case their phones were compromised. There are a lot of things he could've done differently, but now it's too late.

Taking a deep breath, Steve dials again and listens as the phone once again rings and rings before going to voicemail. Annoyed, he ends the call and tries to tell himself that Jacks has gone to ground or is sleeping it off. Either way, he's safe. Jacks is smart. He's made it this far without backup, he'll be fine for the night until Steve can track him down in the morning. Instead, he opens a new text message and types out a quick message, "package secure", and hits send. He'll find Jacks in the morning, Steve tells himself as he turns off the lamp, and everything is going to be fine.

* * *

Thursday mornings are made for headaches, Steve decides as he rushes through the house the next morning. It's not even 8am and already Steve has gotten a call from the governor's assistant requesting a meeting. If he wants to make it to headquarters and start his search for Jacks before his meeting with the governor, he needs to leave now.

Steve grumbles in annoyance under his breath as he holsters his gun and pats his pockets down for his truck keys. He's about to walk out the door when he stops short and has to spin back around to grab his badge off the desk. As he's grabbing the badge, his eyes land on the laptop. He sighs in frustration. He'd wanted to take the drive into HQ and have Chin take a look at it this morning, but he doesn't have time. Instead, he grabs the laptop and hopes that a copy of the encrypted file will be enough for now.

It takes him an extra twenty minutes to reach headquarters due to a snarl of traffic caused by a minor accident. He is still the first one through the doors, however, and he breathes a sigh of relief. It doesn't take long to get the laptop booted up and syncing with his computer and only another few minutes to navigate through the decryption program. He lets it run while he pulls up a search query on Jacks. He runs a search for any credit card usage under Jacks' name and all the aliases that Steve is aware of. He's disappointed, but not entirely surprised, when the search comes up with nothing. The last time Jack's credit card was used was at a gas station nearly three weeks ago. He's been on the run since.

Steve's just contemplating his next move when voices drift into the office from the hallway. He looks up in time to see Kono and Danny heading in. Danny flicks his eyes over to Steve before he's pulled back into his conversation with Kono, Chin only a few steps behind them. Aware of what time it is, Steve quickly gathers up the files that the governor had requested and puts the computers to sleep knowing the program will still run on the server in the background. He's just heading out the door when Danny's voice halts him.

"Running out on us already?"

Steve turns to see him leaning against the doorframe of his office, arms crossed over his chest as he feigns nonchalance.  
"I've got a meeting with the governor in about ten minutes. I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now." Steve gestures to the files in his arms. "We're going over caseloads and budgets, wanna provide back up?"

Danny laughs as he pushes off the doorframe. "No, Super SEAL. You got yourself into this mess, have fun with that." Danny pats his shoulder as he passes, heading toward the coffee pot.

It's a ten-minute drive to the governor's office that Steve manages to make in six, arriving with only a minute to spare. His assistant gives his flushed face a sideways glance but says nothing, just directs him to wait on the couch. He spends twenty-five minutes sitting impatiently on the couch, idly texting Danny, before he finds out his meeting will be rescheduled due to a case.  
The team spends much of the day crisscrossing the city, responding to burglary alarms, most of which turn out to be false alarms. By the time they've found the pranksters, it's after 7pm and Steve is fed up with the punks and their antics. Steve takes great pleasure in cuffing the kid and handing him and his friends over to HPD for processing. He briefly considers heading back to HQ to get a jump-start on the paperwork, but quickly dismisses it in favor of heading home.

It isn't until he hits the front door that he realizes he left the laptop at the office. For a brief moment he considers going back, thinks about picking up the search for Jacks and tracking him down, thinks about cracking the encrypted file wide open and finally putting this nightmare to rest for his friend. He's got his keys in hand, ready to turn around when he stops. If he's being honest with himself, there isn't much he can hope to accomplish tonight by himself besides adding more frustration on top of the exhaustion creeping into his body. And if he knows Jacks at all, he's probably gone to ground already, buried so far down into a hole that even Steve won't be able to find him until he's damn good and ready to surface. It's the nature of the beast, Steve knows, being on the run from shadows. It doesn't ease the worry in his gut, but rather helps him push it aside for the night.

* * *

Arriving at the office Friday morning doesn't go as Steve had planned. He had wanted to get a jump-start on Jacks case, something that had been weighing heavily on his mind even after he'd tried to shove it back. He had wanted to put a dent in the search and have Chin start on analyzing the file. That, however, does not happen.

Instead, Steve is faced with a throng of camera crews, microphones shoved in his face and questions hurdled at him like grenades as he tries to make it into the building.

"Commander, is it true that you have arrested three 17 year-olds in connection with the bank robberies yesterday?"

"Are they going to be facing felony charges?"

"Is there someone else involved with the robberies?"

Steve manages to growl out a "No comment" as he pushes his way through the crowd. Once inside, he snags the arm of the nearest cop he finds.

"Get them out of here," he barks, motioning to the group still gathered outside the door.

The officer nods and rushes away. Steve doesn't stick around long enough to find out if his orders are followed. He takes the stairs two at a time up to their offices only to find another kind of barrage waiting for him. His inbox is flooded with emails from lawyers, the lab, and the governor himself, all asking questions about the case and requesting case reports as soon as possible.

"I'll get right on that," Steve murmurs to his screen as he clicks through the emails, trying to find a place to begin. He barely looks up when the rest of the team comes in an hour later, only acknowledging their presence to dole out tasks.

By Friday afternoon, Steve's so engrossed in paperwork that he loses track of time. The mountain of paperwork that had been looming this morning is complete; cases filed and sent off to the governor for review. He briefly set up new search parameters for Jacks before they were abandoned for a conference call with the governor. It's only when Danny knocks sharply on his door that Steve is pulled back to reality. He waves Danny in as he wraps up the call with the governor.

Danny walks into his office and slings himself down on the couch with a big smile in his face. Steve glances at the clock and watches as it ticks just passed three o'clock.

"Heading out soon?" Steve asks, leaning away from his desk and stretching out the kinks in his back. It feels like he's barely left the chair all day and he needs to move. He stands up, leaning against the corner of his desk as he regards Danny.

"Yeah. Gotta pick up Grace and be back to the school by 4:00," Danny answers with a smile.

Until he mentions it, Steve had completely forgotten the fact that Danny was leaving early. The whole team, in fact, is leaving early today. Danny and Grace are going camping for Aloha girls, Kono is heading up to the North Shore for a long weekend of surfing with some friends, and Chin and Malia are heading to Turtle Bay for a some much needed alone time. It will be Steve manning the fort alone until Monday morning.

"Don't get lost in this mess." Danny indicates the piles of paperwork and case files littered around the room. When Steve just grumbles, Danny chuckles. "Yeah, all right. I'll see you Monday morning."

"Have fun, Danno." Steve watches as he walks out, heading straight for the door. Chin leaves a few minutes later, Kono hot on his heels. They give him a quick wave as they go and suddenly Steve is alone, left with silence and an inbox full of their reports to review.

After signing off on the last report, Steve decides to knock off for the weekend. It's a little before 5, but he thinks it's well deserved after the week they've had. He takes a few minutes to ensure the encrypted file has been copied over to the secure Five-0 server, letting the decryption software work its magic over the weekend, and flagging all of Jacks' aliases in the system in case they pop up. Once he's sure there is nothing else he can do, Steve locks up his office and heads home. It's a nice evening he decides as he climbs into his truck; maybe a long run along the beach is just what's in order to end his week on a high note.

* * *

The sun is just starting to sink below the horizon when Steve slows down to a walk, coming up through his backyard. He stretches languidly as he walks up to the back door. The house is cast in shadows, but Steve doesn't give it a second thought as he toes off his sneakers by the back door. He's just reaching into the pocket of his shorts to grab his phone as he walks through the door.

The first hit comes out of nowhere, something heavy and solid that plows into his back and steals his breath. Steve stumbles forward a step with the impact of the hit when the second hit comes. It hits him higher on the shoulders, at the base of his neck, and has him crashing to his knees before he has a chance to react. There is pain pulsing up his back and into his head as he moves, but Steve's adrenaline kicks in and forces his body to move. He barely dodges the third swing, a glancing blow off his right shoulder, as he rolls to the left and up to his feet. His muscles are already fatigued and it shows in his slow reaction time, but Steve moves, keeps moving as a piece of wood swings out from the shadows again, aiming for his head.

It's a leg from his table, Steve realizes belatedly as the wood swings inches from his face. He jerks backwards and stumbles into the broken remains of his table. He catches himself at the last minute and pushes away from the rubble, launching himself at his attacker with a vicious swing. His fist meets flesh and he draws back quickly and delivers another satisfying punch before he loses his advantage. A knee finds its way into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and Steve to his knees. Another blow is delivered to his back and before he can hope to recover, a hand tangles in his hair and rears his head back only to drive it forcefully into the floor. A loud crack sounds as his face connects with the floor. He's dazed but struggling to pull free when his head is driven into the floor a second time. It doesn't happen a third.

* * *

With consciousness comes pain. The edges of the darkness roll back and, in its place, comes a fiery pain in his back and a fierce pain in his head. Noise bullies it's way into his awareness next. Muffled, far-away voices that steadily grow louder followed by crashes and bangs that send spikes of agony through his brain. He breathes deep and slow, keeping as still as possible so as not to jostle his aching body. By the time the pain abates enough for him to force his eyes open, his brain is mostly back online.

Steve finds himself sitting upright in a chair, bare feet planted on a familiar floor. Steve keeps his head down where its been slumped for a while judging by the pain in his neck and tries to take in as much of his surroundings as he can. He's still in his running gear, a simple t-shirt and shorts, though his shoes are gone. He's sitting in a familiar chair, the wooden chair from behind the desk with the arms. His wrists are bound to each arm and his feet are bound together.

He tries to piece together everything in his head, images slowly coming back to him. He remembers coming home and going for a run to clear his mind, he remembers coming back up to the house and discarding his shoes, he remembers going for his phone to try Jacks once again … and then everything blacks out. Judging by the pain still singing through his back and head, he must've met up with quite the resistance at some point. The voices drift closer and this time, Steve dares to pick his head up the slightest bit. He can't see all of them, but he sees two pairs of legs moving in the dim light of the house.

Another crash is heard and Steve watches as his desk is overturned, papers scattering and fluttering to the floor. Books hit the floor with heavy thuds as they are pulled from their shelves and, one by one, searched and discarded. The legs move with a purpose, moving methodically through his house and searching thoroughly. They speak quietly to one another, only a few clipped sentences, but it's enough for Steve to detect an accent that he can't quite identify.

He watches them move for a moment, long enough to know they aren't paying attention to him. If there is anyone else in the house they are either upstairs or outside. He hasn't been able to detect anyone else besides the two currently destroying his office and dining room. Sure that he's not being watched, Steve tests the bindings on his wrists and feels enough wiggle room in one hand to be beneficial. Slowly working his wrist back and forth under the tape, Steve is able to create enough room for him to pull his hand through. It's a tight squeeze but the sweat rolling down his back and arms from the effort helps ease the way. After a few minutes of hard work, he's rewarded with one wrist free.

Instinctually he reaches for his phone but hesitates when the floor behind him creaks. The jig is up, he realizes, and lifts his head to look around. There is no one behind him, but his movement alerts the other two and they stride menacingly into the room. The house is dim, dim enough for Steve to have trouble making out the faces of his attackers, but that could also be the head injury, he realizes as the world shifts alarmingly on its axis. The men are heading straight for him but Steve will be damned if he's going to let them get in the first strike this time. As soon as the first one is close enough, Steve plants his hands on the arms of the chair and pushes up, kicking is legs up and out, straight into the chest of the first man. He stumbles back with the force of the impact, landing hard on the floor at the feet of his comrade.

The second man quickly jerks out of the way of his partner and launches at Steve. Steve swings out his free right arm and catches him across the jaw with a hard punch. With his opponent dazed, Steve launches up from the chair that's still attached to his left wrist. With all the energy he can muster, Steve swings his left arm, chair and all, and catches the second man across the head with the legs of the chair. The wood proves solid as it comes away unharmed from the impact, but the second man hits the floor like a sack of bricks, unconscious and bleeding from a gash across his forehead and cheek.

The first guy has his feet under him and is nearing Steve again. He lands two punches to Steve's face that have him staggering back and a few body shots that have Steve collapsing back into the chair. As he draws nearer, encouraged by Steve's slack body, Steve lashes out with his feet, sweeping the guy at the legs. He crashes to his knees hard in front of Steve, but before he can try to get up, Steve has his legs wrapped around the man's neck. Steve squeezes as hard has he can, choking the guy out. The man is starting to flag, eyes rolling back into his head when the sound of a gun cocking stops him instantly.

"Let him go, Commander," a woman's voice says from over his shoulder. When Steve doesn't immediately release his grip, the barrel of a gun his shoved roughly against the base of his skull.

"I said, let him go." The voice is hard and commanding, broking no room for argument.

Steve releases his grip on the man's neck and lets him fall from between his legs. The man drags himself away, coughing and choking on the sudden rush of air back into his lungs. Slowly, the gun is removed from his head and a woman appears in his line of vision. She smiles coldly as she eyes him.

"They should've tied you up better, Commander. That was an oversight on our part that won't happen again." She steps over the unconscious body of one guy, heel nudging him out of her way as she comes to stand in front of Steve. She regards her other counterpart, slowly coming back to his senses, with annoyance before her gaze settles back on Steve.

"You got one hand free I see. You could've done any number of things with one arm free, namely calling for help. But you didn't." She steps closer, gun still trained on Steve's head. "I see you aren't going to be making this easy on me, Commander. Which means I won't be going easy on you."

"Who are you?" Steve grinds out, trying to keep his sore body as still as possible. When the woman just laughs, Steve tries again. "Who are you?"

"Tie him up." She ignores Steve in favor of talking to her conscious counterpart. When the man moves towards Steve again, the woman _tsks_ in disapproval. "Use these for his wrists," she holds up two pairs of handcuffs. "And this time, bind his legs the chair as well since it's obvious he can take you two out without much of a struggle." Her voice has a harsh bite to it as she hands over the cuffs and watches as her commands are carried out.

Once Steve is secured to the chair again, more secure this time, she flicks the safety on the gun and tucks it back into the holster at her side. She moves towards Steve slowly, eyeing him with a menacing hunger in her eyes. She pauses to pick up the discarded table leg and contemplates it for a moment. Without warning, she brings the leg down with all her force onto Steve's right wrist. Steve cries out in pain as a crack is heard and nearly blacks out when she does it a second time.

"Just for reassurance, to make sure you don't try to slip those cuffs so easily a second time," she says before turning to her partner. "Keep searching. Tear this place apart until you find it. And don't let him get the drop on you again or he'll be the least of your worries, got it?"

Steve is trying to breathe through the pain, the blackness slowly receding from vision when he sees her standing in front of him, table leg still in hand. She shakes her head, dark amusement lighting her face as she swings the weapon again, this time at his head. It connects with his temple, pain flaring instantly before the world goes dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**PART TWO**

Voices slowly penetrate his consciousness. At first they are soft and muffled, sounding far away. But the more he concentrates, the clearer they become. Steve, despite the pain rocketing around his skull and stabbing at his wrist, forces himself to focus on them, trying to discern what they are saying.

"It has to be here," the woman says, annoyance clear in her tone.

"But where? We've looked all over the place." A man's voice responds.

There's a huff and the soft tread of feet moving methodically across the floor before the woman's voice starts speaking again. "You've seen his file, he's a SEAL. You think he just has it lying around in plain sight? Use your brain for a minute, Scott." The pacing continues, venturing closer to Steve before moving away again. "No, he's got it here. Did you check for a safe?"

"Yeah. Nothing." The same male, Scott, states.

"What about the floor?"

Silence reigns for a minute before something crashes to the floor.

"Are you kidding me?!" The woman cries out. There's a tap on the glass before she calls out, "Get in here Tommy".

A door opens and feet tread heavily into the room, the smell of the ocean and tobacco taking over the room.

"What now Natalie?" The new voice, Tommy, asks with annoyance.

"You didn't check the floor?" She asks, cutting right to the chase.

As the silence carries on for a few beats, Steve dares to angle his head up the slightest bit to glance at them. It takes a minute for him to focus, but when he does, he sees the woman, Natalie, facing off with two men. Natalie is not a thin wisp of a woman, but rather tall with a menacing frame. She might be shorter than the men, but she's right up in their faces, dark hair pulled back into a severe ponytail and cold blue eyes glaring. Her frame belies the strength hiding there, Steve's mangled wrist can attest to that.

Natalie pokes a finger into one man's chest, pushing him back a step. The man is tall, probably six four or better with wide-set shoulders and thick, muscled arms. There is a cut on the side of his head and a dark bruise around his eye that Steve vaguely recognizes. He scowls down at Natalie, but doesn't push back. It's clear she's the alpha and he's just there for muscle.

"Black sent me with you and Scott because he assured me you were the best team for the job. I'm starting to think you aren't cut out for this job, Tommy. Hell, the SEAL knocked you out while still attached to the fucking chair!" Natalie yells, then spins away, slamming her hands against a wall and breathing deep for a minute. When she spins back around, Steve can see the rage has been replaced with cold menace. "Find the damn drive or it'll be your body they find here instead of the Commander's. Understood?"

"Yeah Nat, got it." Tommy nods and motions for Scott to follow him.

Steve cautiously follows their movements as they start inspecting the floor. Natalie watches them for a minute before she pulls out a phone, angrily tapping away at the screen as she disappears from sight. Steve turns his gaze back to the two men, trying to pick out any identifying marks. Scott, much like Tommy, is built like a brick shit house, but he's much quieter. Neither one of them has any visible tattoos nor distinguishing marks, not counting the gash on Tommy's face. A face flashes in Steve's mind then, pale green eyes, slightly crooked nose and a wide, jagged scar near a dark hairline. Steve recognizes it as the face of the man he had tried to choke out earlier. He can't see much of Scott's face from here, but he's positive it was him.

A sudden pounding in his head has Steve slowly dropping his chin back down to his chest as he tries to breath through it. His vision wavers and black crowds in at the edges of his vision as the pain ratchets up another level. He slams his eyes closed and tries to relax. The more he tries to relax, however, the more aware he becomes of all the pains singing around his body. His wrist is a fierce agony, hot and swollen, his back and neck ache along with his ribs from too many hits.

When Steve opens his eyes again, it's to see a set of feet in his line of vision and the sound of rain. Startled, Steve jerks his head upright, not sure how much time had passed. He groans in pain and sudden nausea at the movement, but slowly trains his gaze on a smirking Natalie.

"You know, Commander, you are a lot tougher than I expected." She leans forward and latches both of her hands on to his wrists. She leans in even closer, pressing all her weight onto Steve's broken wrist.

Steve tries instinctually to squirm out of her grip, but the movement only creates more pain as his swollen joint thrashes in the metal cuff and against the chair's arm. Finally, Steve can't take the pain anymore, feeling like he's going to be sick from it, he throws his head back and cries out.

"There, now that wasn't so hard." Natalie steps back. "I knew there was a reason Jacks came to you, a highly trained Navy SEAL, when he was in trouble. Too bad he just brought all that trouble right to your doorstep." Natalie glances over her shoulder and scowls at what she sees before she returns her gaze to Steve. "I've read your file, Commander. You're a highly decorated soldier and the leader of an elite task force; you've made quite a place for yourself here."

Steve can hear the threat in her voice and quickly tries to remind himself that no matter what she says, his ohana is safe. Danny and Grace are camping with the Aloha girls. Kono is on the North Shore with her friends for a surfing weekend. Chin was taking Malia to Turtle Bay for a romantic getaway. They are all away from here and safe. And he'd heard Natalie say it herself; Tommy and Scott were the team she brought with her. No one else was mentioned. Even though he knows this, rationally, he still can't help the kick of adrenaline that floods his system and the growl that escapes from his throat.

Natalie just laughs. "Oh, touchy. Well don't worry, Commander. No harm will come to them … if you cooperate. Just hand over the drive and we disappear."

"Really? Just like that?" Steve grinds out, voice hoarse with pain. His vision wavers again and Steve is force to break his staring contest with her to blink the black spots away. When he regains his composure, he glares back at her. "I've seen your faces, I know you're not going to walk out of here and let me live."

"Oh no. Definitely not. Like you said, you've seen our faces." Natalie paces a short circuit in front of him, the menacing smile never leaving her face. "No, I never said anything about leaving you alive, Commander. I just said we'd disappear. We'll be long gone before anyone comes around looking for your body on Monday."

"Go to hell," he growls out. It turns out to be a mistake when Natalie lashes out, kicking him in the center of his chest and overturning the chair. His head strikes the floor with a resounding crack, but he's hoisted back up again in one swift move.

The world tilts on its axis and the motion is too much. He barely has time to heed his body's warning, turning his head to the side just as his stomach loses it's battle with the nausea. Once the queasiness has passed and his head has stopped spinning, Steve cracks open his eyes to see a frowning Scott standing next to Natalie.

"You're going to kill him before you get the drive if you keep going at him like that," Scott murmurs quietly but moves off before Natalie can respond.

She seems to ponder his words for a minute before she nods, moving over to where Tommy is still trying to pry up floorboards. She leans down next to him, quietly conversing with him for a moment. When Tommy stands up with a smile on his face, Steve knows he's in for trouble.

"Last chance, Commander. Give up the drive before this gets any messier." Natalie asks.

When Steve just glares at her, Tommy steps in front of her and smirks. He cracks his knuckles in a menacing gesture, a sinister look in his eyes. Steve watches him, unimpressed for a moment before he looks back to Natalie. Without any warning, Tommy lands a punch to his ribs that forces the air out of his lungs. Before Steve can draw in an adequate breath, two more punches follow and his chest is on suddenly on fire with pain.

Steve tires hard to force himself to disconnect from the pain. _Punch_. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California …

_Punch._ Albany, Annapolis, Atlanta, Augusta, Austin …

_Punch_. Thirteen times one equals thirteen, thirteen times two equals twenty-six, thirteen times three equals thirty-nine …

_Punch_. Remove the magazine from the gun. Complete a thorough inspection of the chamber by sight and feel. Point, pull trigger, pull slide back …

By the time Steve comes back to himself, it's no longer Tommy delivering the blows but Scott. He can't breathe in even the slightest without lighting agony across his chest and abdomen. His shoulders and back and wrists are all screaming at him with every tiny movement. His face feels full and swollen and bruised. It's his head, however, that hurts the most. Even with his eyes open, his vision is dim and blurry. The room is tilting on its axis and Steve can't focus on anything. He's not sure how much time has passed or even what happened in any span of time since he left the office. It's that fact, the blanks in his memory, that startles and worries him. He's not sure what day it is anymore, but he knows that no one is going to be coming for him any time soon. And even if they did, he didn't want Danny or Chin or Kono to end up bound to a chair beside him.

"Commander!" Natalie yells, snapping Steve's wandering attention back to her. When he looks up, she frowns. "Christ, I told you to lay into him, not put him in a coma Tommy. How the fuck is he gonna tell us now?!" Natalie growls out in frustration.

Steve barely follows her words, they aren't making sense anymore. He knows she's talking to him, that words are coming out of her mouth, but he can't comprehend them. He blinks up at her and tries hard to focus.

"Fuck," she mutters, striding up to Steve and grabbing a fistful of his hair and jerking his lolling head back upright. It turns out to be the wrong move, however, when he goes suddenly pale and makes a desperate strangled noise in the back of his throat. She releases him a split second before he starts vomiting, bloody bile pooling between his bare feet on the floor. "Fuck!" she cries out, but grabs Steve's head again. This time she is careful not to move him too fast as she brings his head upright.

"Let's end this now Commander. Tell us where the drive is and we leave. No more pain, no more fighting." Natalie leans in closer, bringing her lips a breath from Steve's ear as she whispers to him. "Tell me where it is, Steve, and I'll spare you. It's a better deal than Jacks ever got."

When she releases his hair, Steve slumps back down in the chair and moans quietly. He wants to ask her what happened to Jacks, he wants to make them pay for anything they did to his friend, but he's flagging. He can barely lift his head and knows that he's desperately in need of help. There might be another option here, he thinks, but he can't come up with anything else.

Slowly he picks up his head, mustering all the energy he can to make that simple movement. When he meets Natalie's eyes, he sighs in resignation. "Closet. Under the stairs," he whispers through swollen, split lips.

Natalie snaps her fingers and Tommy and Scott jump into action. They are a blur of motion out of the corner of his eye, but Steve's pretty sure they are hauling the heavy potted plant out of the way. When he hears the rattle of the doorknob on the door, he closes his eyes and smirks.

"Tricky," he murmurs, losing energy fast. "Quarter turn left. Full turn right. Quarter turn back left."

After a moment, he hears the door hinges squeak as it swings open. There's a rustling and the sound of boxes and bags being moved before a voices rumbles out something unintelligible. The darkness is quickly encroaching and Steve is helpless to stop it.

"Where is it Commander?" Natalie's impatient voice drags him back up to the surface.

Steve takes a short breath and rolls his head in the direction of the stairs. "Floor safe."

"Keep going," Natalie encourages, cold fingers tapping roughly at his face to keep him awake. "What the combination?"

"Sixteen. Five. Thirty three," he gasps out. Mustering the last of his energy, Steve opens his eyes in time to see Tommy standing up, flash drive in hand.

Natalie smiles at him, giving his face another tap. "Good boy." She moves over to snatch the drive out of Tommy's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Commander."

Steve watches out of bleary eyes as Natalie slips out the door, Tommy and Scott on her heels. He waits, expecting them to come back in and end it, end him, but it doesn't happen. The clock ticks and minutes pass and nothing at all happens. Steve sags down in relief, but can feel the darkness trying to pull him down again. As much as his body is begging for a reprieve from the pain, he can't give in just yet.

Steve glances down at his hands and frowns. His right wrist is grotesquely swollen, the joint deep purple with bruising around the handcuff. His fingers are pale gray from his circulation being cut off. It's useless to him right now so he looks at his left. It's managed to escape somewhat unharmed given the circumstances. There is a handcuff on it as well, but it's not as tight. He tests it and finds enough wiggle room to work with. Tucking his thumb up tight against his palm, Steve beings the slow, torturous task of trying to slip his hand through the cuff. After several long moments and no small amount of pain, Steve's hand slips free of the cuff. He let's out a small hysterical laugh that sends streaks of fiery pain through his chest.

Once he catches his breath, Steve slips his hand into his pocket only to find that his cellphone is nowhere to be found. Groaning, Steve glances around the room until he sees the cordless landline sitting in its cradle on the bookshelf twenty feet away. It's been moved, balanced precariously on the edge of the shelf, but it's within reaching distance if Steve can just get himself over there. It takes a ridiculous amount of energy and waves of agony, but Steve heaves his body and the chair across the floor inches at a time until he's crossed the distance. As his fingers wrap around the phone, he feels like he's going to pass out. Blindly he dials a number and presses it to his ear, listening to it ring and ring and ring. Finally, when he's about to give in, a voice comes through on the other end.

"Danno?"

* * *

Danny hauls the last of Grace's camping equipment back into the house and drops it in the foyer. Rachel gives him a disappointed look that quickly turns back into a smile as Grace comes back into the room. Rachel puts an arm around Grace's shoulder and hugs her close.

"I'm sorry your camping trip got rained out, sweetie," Rachel says to her daughter, but Grace just shrugs.

"It's okay. It just means we get to go again soon, right Danno? We have to earn our camping badge!" Grace bounces on her toes, eyes bright with excitement as she regards her father.

Danny is about to answer her when his phone starts ringing. He pulls it out, only giving the number a cursory glance, intending on ignoring it, when the number catches his attention. Steve's landline. A pit of unease opens up in his stomach, but he tries his best to ignore it.

"Of course, Monkey. We'll get you a camping badge." Danny ruffles Gracie's hair despite her protest. "Give me one minute, kiddo. I'll be right back." Danny steps away as he answers the call.

"Steven, didn't I tell you I was going to be on top of a mountain with my daughter this weekend?" He asks in mock annoyance.

_"__Danno?_"

The voice on the other end of the line shocks him. It sounds hoarse and weak and … broken. Danny swallows thickly, dropping the act instantly.

"Steve? What's wrong?"

His tone must startle Rachel and Grace because immediately their background chatter falls silent. Danny glances over at them and sees the worry on both their faces.

_"__Need help, Danno."_

"Are you hurt?" Danny asks into the phone, then turns to Rachel. "I need your phone, Rach." A second later another phone is placed in his hand. He nods his thanks as he starts to dial.

_"__It's bad,"_ Steve murmurs, voice drifting off.

"Steve, stay with me okay buddy. I'm on my way. I've got squad cars heading to you right now okay. Just hang in there." It kills him to do it, but Danny pulls his cell phone away from his ear so he can talk to dispatch on Rachel's phone.

"This is Detective Danny Williams, Five-0. I need immediate backup and medical assistance to 2727 Pi'iokoi Street. Officer in distress." Danny quickly hangs up once he's relayed all the information to the dispatcher and hands the phone back over to Rachel.

"Steve? You still with me?"

He hears only silence on the other end.

"I'm sorry baby, I've got to go," Danny quickly pulls Grace into a hug, planting a kiss on her head.

"Go Danny, it's okay," Rachel states, voice unnaturally worried as she pulls Grace close to her.

Danny doesn't hesitate. He's out the door and tearing down the street a moment later. The lights are on and sirens blaring as he tears down the streets as fast as he can. He's got the phone pressed to his ear, listening for any signs of life on the other end, but there is only silence. After a moment, Danny tries again.

"Steve? If you are there, I need you to make a noise buddy. Are you with me?"

When there is no response, Danny growls. "I'll be there soon, hang in there okay. Hang in there." He punches the end button with more force than required, but he's dialing another number moments later. When the voicemail picks up, he punches the steering wheel in frustration.

"Kono, I need you to head back. Now. Steve's hurt. I don't know how bad but I'm on my way to him right now. Get a hold of Chin and get him back here ASAP. I'll call you back when I know something."

By the time Danny pulls on to the street, he can hear sirens approaching from in front of him and from behind him. Back up is only a few seconds away. He pulls in to the driveway and parks haphazardly in front of the gate, bumper inches from the pristine white wood. He's out of the car a second later, engine still on and lights still flashing. He pauses only long enough to pull his back-up piece out of the glove box before he's rushing towards the door.

As he nears the door, he can hear more rushed footsteps coming up behind him. He looks over his shoulder and sees four squad cars in the driveway and seven cops rushing through the gate. Danny signals four of them around back before he stacks up at the door with the other three. Taking a deep breath, Danny reaches one hand out and tries the doorknob, unease settling into his gut when he finds it unlocked.

He glances back over he shoulder at Duke and nods once before he pushes the door open and lets the three cops in first. Danny is pushing his way through on the heels of the last cop, gun raised, eyes darting around the completely trashed house. He doesn't have to look far before his eyes land on Steve. His knees go instantly weak and if it weren't for sheer determination, he's sure they would give out at the sight.

Steve is bound to a chair in the middle of his destroyed house, right near where his father's body had been found, between the living and dining rooms. Steve's slumped over, left hand free from the handcuffs, still clutching the phone. He's slumped over to the left, arm dangling over the side of the chair. There is blood covering his face and he's disturbingly still.

The four cops come bursting in through the backdoor, moving systematically to sweep the bottom floor. Two of the cops that came in the front with Danny move quickly up the stairs to clear it. Duke and Danny, however, only have eyes for Steve, rushing over to him. Danny kneels down next to the chair, eyes taking in all the damage and blood and bruises. His hand shakes as it reaches out to press against Steve's neck. He waits with bated breath until he feels the slow thump of a heartbeat beneath his fingers. His breath rushes out of his lungs as he nods to Duke.

"He's alive," he murmurs, sliding his gun into the back of his jeans.

Duke moves a step away, speaking into his radio with urgency. Danny thinks he hears the words "officer down" and "critical" and "immediate assistance", but he's only focused on Steve.

"Babe? Can you hear me? Steve?" Danny is afraid to touch him anywhere, afraid of causing more pain. His training kicks in, however, and he knows he has to do his best for Steve until the paramedics arrive. He slides his hand from Steve's neck to his face, hovering above his lips and under his nose. After a moment, he feels a weak rush of air and sags in relief.

"The house is clear, Detective." An officer with the name of Makani states. "How can we help?"

Danny looks up to see the seven officers standing in a semi-circle around Steve, all wearing worried looks. He swallows down his emotion and tries to take charge. "We need to secure the scene. I'm also going to need something to get the cuffs off of him, a first aid kit, and blankets if you have them." A few of the officers scatter off to grab the needed items, but Duke and Makani stay.

"We need to stabilize his head and neck," Danny states, eyeing Makani. "Can you do that?"

Makani just nods and moves behind the chair. Carefully, Danny places the man's hands where they need to be and together they ease Steve's head back enough to open up his airway. Danny doesn't move his neck at all, afraid of causing more damage. Once that's taken care of, Danny grabs the first aid kit handed to him. He's tearing open gauze packets when his phone starts ringing. He barely glances at it, seeing Kono's number appear on screen, before he hands it off to Duke.

"Duke, can you-"

"I've got it, Danny." Duke takes the phone and heads away from the bustle of activity.

Danny is pressing a wad of gauze to the worst of Steve's head wounds when an officer appears at his side with a key for the handcuffs. He makes quick work of the cuff and soon Steve's wrists and ankles are free. Danny grimaces at the sight of Steve's swollen wrist. Despite all the noise and activity going on around them, despite the movement of his injured limbs, Steve doesn't move or flinch, which unsettles Danny more than he wants to admit.

He's not sure how much time passes before the paramedics are being escorted through the door, but it's long enough that his fingers have become sticky and stained with Steve's blood. He reluctantly backs up to make room for the medics, but refuses to be moved far. They make quick work of assessing Steve and getting him taken care of. A C-collar is wrapped around his neck and he's secured to a backboard in what seems like the blink of an eye. His shorts and shirt are quickly cut away revealing a rainbow of livid bruises all along Steve's body. An oxygen mask finds its way over his face, a BP cuff on his arm, a splint around his wrist, EKG pads are slapped on his chest, and an IV inserted into his arm. Numbers and long strings of complicated medical jargon are called back and forth between the medics with increasing urgency before they are moving him swiftly towards the ambulance.

Danny immediately follows, only stopped at the last minute from climbing in by Duke. His eyes are sad as he hands over Danny's phone. "Your team is on their way. Kono will meet you at the hospital soon. Chin is an hour out, but he'll meet you there."

"The scene-"

"The scene is secure. I will personally oversee it for you, for Steve. The crime scene unit and some detectives are on their way over for the preliminary investigation." Duke lays a hand on Danny's shoulder and gives it a firm squeeze. "I've got this Danny. Steve needs you now."

Danny nods. He wants to express his gratitude to Duke; to thank him for being such a great friend and a great cop and for always caring about them. His brain fails at forming the words needed, however, and he's left mute. Duke gives him a nudge towards the ambulance.

"Go Danny. Be with your partner. We'll get whoever did this."

As the doors close behind Danny and the ambulance starts moving, Danny can only look down at Steve's broken body. He swears if it is the last thing he does, he will catch the sons of bitches that did this to his friend and he's going to make them pay for their crimes.

* * *

He's not sure how long he's been sitting there, hands cradled in his lap, leaning back against the nurses' station watching the hive of activity that is Steve's room. Upon their arrival to the hospital, Danny had steadfastly refused to be moved to the waiting room. After enough persuasion, the charge nurse had finally relented and let him take up post outside the ER room. Doctors and nurses, equipment and techs have been in and out of Steve's room at a steady interval. So far, though, no one has said a word to him. He's not sure if that bodes well or not.

Danny makes the mistake of looking down and once again resumes picking at the dried blood around his nail beds. One of the nurses, he recognized her from their previous ER visits, had pushed him towards the bathroom at one point. He'd done a cursory job at getting the blood off his hands, but it's still around his nails, in the creases of his knuckles, and the ridges of his fingertips.

"Danny!"

He jerks his head up and finds Kono making her way towards him. For a moment, he's struck speechless by the sight of her, looking slightly rumpled and frazzled as she pushes her way down the crowded hallway. Then he remembers he pulled her from a weekend away on the North Shore with her friends. It looks like she had come as she was when he called her, hair pulled into a haphazard ponytail, faded jean shorts, tank top, and flip-flops. She's got her badge and gun strapped to her hip though; she's ready to work.

"Hey," she greets when she finally reaches him. She hesitates for a moment before she leans down and pulls him into a quick hug. She draws a hand across her face when she pulls away, trying to settle herself down. "How's the boss? What happened?"

"I-" Danny pauses, unsure what to say. He glances over to the room where a nurse is exiting with a smear of blood across her scrub top and winces. He motions to the room before looking back up at Kono. "I don't know what happened. He called me. I could tell right away that something was wrong, he sounded bad. Hurt. I got over there to find the placed trashed and him handcuffed to a chair, beaten unconscious. It was bad."

He whispers the last as he goes to run a hand through his hair. He stops at the last minute, remembering the blood, before he drops his hand with a sigh.

"Here, I stopped by your apartment and grabbed you a change of clothes. I figured you'd need them," Kono hands over the small gym bag with a shrug. "Go get cleaned up, I'll see if I can't get some information."

"You can try," Danny accepts the bag with a grateful look. It isn't until then that Danny realizes it's not only his hands that are stained with Steve's blood, but his shorts and t-shirt as well. "I'll be right back."

When he comes back, he finds Kono leaning against the nurses' station, right where he left her, ending a call on her cell. She's not aware of his presence; that much he can tell from the emotions playing across her face as she stares down at the phone in her hand. After a moment, though, the emotion passes as she's back to the strong woman he recognizes. Danny takes the last few steps up to her, dropping the duffle bag on the chair.

"Any news?" He questions, eyes once again glued to the room Steve is in.

"That was Chin," Kono answers, slipping her phone back into her pocket. "He wanted to let you know he's at Steve's house now. Most of the evidence collection is done, they're working on reconstruction now. He'll be around when they're done."

"Anything about Steve?"

Kono just shakes her head. "The charge nurse just said they were waiting on some tests and that the doctor would find us when he had anything concrete to tell us."

Danny just nods. He's not sure where to go from here. He should be at the scene with Chin, collecting evidence and trying to find the bastards that did this to Steve. He should be chasing down doctors and demanding answers. He should be curled up on the couch with Grace watching a movie while the storms blow through. Instead, Danny drops down into the chair and props his head in his hands with a sigh. He can feel Kono easing down next to him, her slim arm settling around his shoulders as she leans against him, waiting with him.

* * *

"Our biggest concern at the moment is the head wound," the doctor states, face emotionless as she delivers the hard hitting blow. "Until he regains consciousness, we have no way of knowing how bad it is. His scans show a fractured skull and a small hematoma. His pressures are all good, however, so it doesn't appear that he has an active bleed."

Danny feels like someone just punched him in the gut, the air rushes out of his lungs in a quick puff. His fingers clench harder around the footboard on the bed as he stares down at Steve's motionless body. "What are his other injuries?" he asks in a whisper.

"His wrist is broken in two places. We were able to set it with minimal difficulty and cast it. He also has multiple broken ribs and severe contusions on his body and face." The doctor lists off each injury like reading a grocery list, like they aren't horrendous injuries to his best friend.

"That all?" Danny huffs under his breath, annoyed with the emotionless doctor. Kono nudges him in the ribs, but Danny doesn't even flinch, never breaking his glare at the doctor. He can tell by looking at Steve's swollen and bruised face, at the dark blotches covering his exposed skin that he has "severe contusions". That isn't what he wants to know. He wants someone to tell him if Steve is going to be okay, if he's going to wake up and remember in vivid detail what happened or if it will all be a blessed, hazy memory. He wants someone to tell him who could to this to a Navy SEAL and walk away unscathed.

The doctor continues smoothly, oblivious to Danny's wandering mind, rattling off facts about head trauma and recovery, statistics that Danny doesn't need to hear right now. "If you have any other questions, the nurses will be more than happy to assist you." Chart in hand, the doctor starts to walk away from them, not waiting another moment.

"Is he going to be okay?" Danny finally blurts out, unclenching his hands long enough to turn and look at the doctor.

She stares at him for a minute, face emotionless before she finally nods once. "Yes, Detective. I believe that the Commander shall make a full recover, given time. Anything else?" When Danny just shakes his head quickly, she retreats without another word.

Danny stares down at Steve's face, swollen and bruised and held together with stitches and band-aids, and takes a minute to just breath. When he'd heard Steve's voice, when he'd entered the house and found him … Danny had feared the worst. He'd had a quick flash of memory, of entering the same house and finding a different, bloodied body tied to a chair. Danny still feels unsettled from the sight, knows it's not one he's going to ever be rid of.

Finally forcing his wooden legs to move, Danny makes his way around the bed and sits down heavily in a chair. He eyes the plaster cast covering Steve's hand and forearm, only his swollen, pale fingers visible, and hesitates. After a moment, though, he works up the courage to lay his hand gently on Steve's bicep, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"We're here, Steve," he murmurs quietly. The doctor didn't know how long it would be until Steve woke up, but Danny was quite content to wait him out, no matter how long it took.

* * *

The return to consciousness doesn't come with some great gasp of air and eyes springing open. It's slow and gradual. Like the tide coming to the shore, it comes in small waves, gradually getting bigger and reaching further. Danny watches anxiously each time Steve starts to move. His hand twitching, squinting his eyes against the light, then rolling his head towards Danny's voice. It's a slow fight, but eventually Danny is rewarded with the sight of Steve's bleary eyes blinking open. Steve slowly takes in his surroundings, blinking owlishly, before his gaze settles on Danny.

"Hey babe," Danny greets tiredly, but forcing a smile on his face. He gives Steve's good arm a gentle squeeze, encouraging him.

"D?"

It's a testament to how out of it he is that Steve can't fully form Danny's name. It's awkward and mumbled through a swollen mouth. Danny just nods, looking up to the doorway briefly when Kono comes back in.

"I'm here, Steve. So is Kono."

Steve nods sluggishly at that, eyes slowly starting to slip closed once again. Danny had been prepared for that, the nurse had told them that with his head wound, Steve would struggle with staying awake for more than a few minutes at a time. What Danny isn't prepared for, however, is the way Steve's eyes spring back open a moment later, panic and fear written across his face as he struggles to sit up.

"Whoa! Easy babe. Take it easy," Danny presses a hand to Steve's chest and tries to ease him back down to the bed, which is surprisingly difficult. "Everything is okay, you're safe. You're in the hospital Steve."

Despite his efforts, however, Steve isn't calming down. He thrashes against Danny and Kono's hands, trying to sit up.

"Steve! You need to calm down," Kono tries, voice edging on pleading as she frees up one hand long enough to press the call button for the nurse. "What's wrong with him?" she asks aloud, face worried as she looks over to Danny.

Danny just shakes his head in response. After a minute, however, Steve's efforts begin to wane as he loses his strength. His body is giving out on him, but it is clear that his mind is not. In a last effort, Steve tangles his fingers in the edge of Danny's shirt and gives a tug, trying desperately to get his attention.

Danny looks down at Steve and can see the worry and fear on his face. "What, Steve? What's the matter?" He grabs a hold of Steve's hand with both of his own and holds on. "What's going on?"

"Jacks," Steve gasps, finally losing his battle with consciousness. "Gotta find … Jacks."

Danny's about to ask whom 'Jacks' is and why he has Steve in such a fit, but Steve's eyes flutter closed before he has the chance. Slowly, Steve's fingers uncurl from Danny's shirt as he slips away. Danny still holds on to him though as he looks over to Kono.

"Find out who Jacks is."

* * *

"I found Steve's phone," Kono announces an hour later as she waltzes back in the door. "They had it logged as evidence, but didn't mind turning it over."

Kono slips into the chair next to Danny and makes quick work of the evidence seal on the bag. Slipping on a glove, Kono pulls the phone out of the bag, grimacing at the blood smear on the cracked screen. Thankfully, however, the phone turns on and the display is mostly in tact.

"You don't happen to know the boss's passcode, do ya?" Kono nudges Danny's shoulder, not expecting an answer.

"Yeah. It's *8251." Danny replies, watching the smirk slip off Kono's face. He chuckles quietly as she types in the passcode and the phone unlocks.

"Huh," she huffs, eyeing Danny oddly for a moment before focusing back on the screen. "Let's see if we can find Jacks."

Danny leans over Kono's shoulder as she first scrolls through the contact list. Unsurprisingly, there is no one listed as 'Jacks' or anything close to it. Next she opens the recent call log and scrolls through the numbers.

"Do you recognize that number?" Kono asks, highlighting the most recent call. It's from Friday night around 7pm, the last time Steve tried to call them. It shows up multiple times before then though, most calls only around 30 seconds and all originated from Steve's phone. The first one, however, was an incoming call and lasted the longest, just shy of seven minutes long.

"No, can't say I do," Danny quickly takes down the number on a napkin. "What about messages? Any texts or voicemails?"

"No voicemails," Kono confirms. "But Steve did text that same number early Thursday morning. No return message though."

"What's the message say?"

"It says 'Package secured'," Kono reads off. "Kinda cryptic."

It's enough of a coincidence for Danny. "Call it."

Kono opens up the recent call list again and puts the phone on speaker as it rings. The phone rings and rings until finally an automated voice message system starts up. Kono tries again three more times, unsuccessfully.

"Sorry brah, whoever it is doesn't feel like talking."

"Is Chin still at HQ?" Danny questions, staring down at the number on Steve's phone.

"Yeah, want me to have him run the number?" Kono asks already sliding Steve's phone back into the evidence bag and removing the glove.

"Yeah, see if he can get any information on it." Danny slumps back in the chair as he looks at Steve's sleeping form. "Whoever it belongs to, Steve is obviously worried about them."


	3. Chapter 3

**PART THREE**

_'__Danny, you need to see this'_. That is never a good sign of things to come, Danny knows. In fact, that statement usually precedes some very bad news.

Kono had called Chin two hours ago and had asked him to pull up information on the phone. It hadn't taken him very long to get back to them, asking them to come in to HQ and see it for themselves. Danny had been hesitant, not wanting to leave Steve even though he'd made no other signs of returning to consciousness. The decision was made, however, when Steve was taken down for another CT scan and the nurse reassured them he would be gone for at least an hour.

Standing in front of the computer table now, however, Danny thinks they'll need more time than that to even begin untangling the mystery of Jacks. The screens are lit up with different search parameters for different aliases and descriptors. There are searches for hotels and credit card use and cell phone tracking of their mysterious number.

"You found all of this on Steve's computer?" Danny questions, scanning the data recovered by the search.

"Yeah, when I started to run the tracking for the number Kono gave me. All of this surfaced, it's been running in the background since Friday. Steve was trying to track someone down." Chin rubs at the back of his neck for a moment as he scrolls through the data. "Whoever he is looking for is doing a good job of hiding. Steve's got numerous aliases here that have turned up nothing. There are searches for a few different credit cards listed under some of the aliases, but they all show no activity. Whoever this is has done a good job of staying underground."

"Did you run the aliases?" Kono asks, eyeing the list of names.

"Yeah, I did." Chin slides a dozen different driver's license images up on the screen. It's obvious they are all the same man, despite the different hair colors and styles and facial hair. "I started running facial recognition on all the images to see if we could get a real ID, but nothing has shown up so far."

Danny runs a hand through his hair. "It doesn't make any sense. How is this connected to what happened to him?" Chin and Kono don't have an answer for him, not that he expected they would. It's frustrating to say the least. "How this all relates to this Jacks guy isn't important right now. We just need to find him. What did you get from the number?"

"It's a burner cell," Chin informs them, bringing the phone information to the forefront of the screen. "It was purchased in Los Angeles and activated on Tuesday morning."

"Is it traceable?"  
"We can try," Chin makes quick work of the screens, a minute later the tracking map appears on the screen, slowly narrowing down the location from the entire country to a street.

"It's at the crime lab," Kono voices, recognizing the address that appears on the screen.

Danny glances down at his watch and sees that their hour is long up. Making a quick decision, Danny looks to Kono. "Call Fong and let him know we are on our way over to find that phone. I'm going to call the hospital to check on Steve. Let's move."

* * *

Kono is relaying the pertinent information to Fong on the phone as they drive to the crime lab. By the time they pull in front of the building, Charlie is mostly caught up on the connection between the two cases. "Don't let anyone touch that phone. We're on our way in now," Kono ends the call as she's climbing out of the car.

Fong is waiting for them when they arrive. He's got an evidence bag in front of him on the table with a blood-splattered phone in it.

"The phone came in on Friday morning in connection with the murder of a John Doe," Fong starts off, holding out the phone to Danny. "A guy with no ID was found beaten and shot in his hotel room. The room was tossed and the only thing found was the phone."

Danny slips on a pair of gloves and carefully removes the phone from the bag. He knows the phone has already been logged and the blood tested, but he's still careful not to disturb too much of the evidence. He slides his finger across the screen to unlock it and immediately opens up the messages. There is one message on the phone, from a number Danny instantly recognizes as Steve's. There is only one outgoing call, again to Steve's number, and multiple missed incoming calls from Steve's number. Danny sighs heavily and bags the phone up again.

"Do you have a picture of the John Doe?" he asks, dreading the answer.

"No, but I can do you one better," Charlie states, stripping off his gloves and heading towards the door. "As far as I know, they haven't identified the body yet and no one has claimed it. It's still in the morgue."

Chin, Kono, and Danny follow Charlie through the halls of the lab until they reach the medical examiner's office. Charlie knocks once before opening the door to find Max flipping through a file. Max perks up at the sight of Five-0, straightening his coat and glasses.

"Ah, a visit from Five-0, always a pleasure. What can I do for you, Detective?"

"We're here about the John Doe," Danny starts, watching as Max's face turns down in confusion.

"I was not aware that was a Five-0 case," Max states, standing up.

"It wasn't, but it might be related to our current case," Chin answers. "What can you tell us?"

Max turns away from them for a minute, turning back around after producing a file from a stack behind him. He opens the file and flips through the pages for a moment before handing it over to them. "A John Doe was found in his hotel room on Friday, just after 8am; time of death, however, was early Thursday morning. The victim was assaulted, having numerous contusions on his face and body as well as defensive wounds. The cause of death was a gun shot wound to the back of the head."

"Execution style," Danny murmurs, flipping through the pages of the medical examiner's notes. He sighs heavily before handing the file to Chin. "I'd like to see him."

"Of course," Max motions for them to follow him through the doorway into the morgue. He walks to the bank of silver doors and pulls one open. Without hesitation, he pulls the gurney out revealing a sheet-covered body.

Danny takes a deep breath as he pulls back the sheet and looks down at the body. His face is pale gray under the blues and purples of bruises. He's got dark bruising under his eyes and his cheek is slightly deformed. There is a bullet exit wound in the center of his forehead. Slowly Danny takes in all the features of the face before he looks to Chin.

"Do you have a picture of Jacks?"

Chin nods and pulls out his phone, passing it to Danny. It only takes a moment, a quick glance between the two to see the resemblance despite the damage. Danny closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly.

"It's Jacks," he announces. Without further inspection, Danny pulls the sheet over Jacks' face and pushes the gurney back into the space. Taking a deep breath, he turns back to the group gathered behind him. Max and Charlie don't quite get the connection yet, but it'll only be a matter of time. Chin and Kono, however, understand the implications clearly. Whoever murdered Jacks probably had a hand in what happened to Steve.

"I need to get back to the hospital," Danny announces, pushing his way out of the room.

* * *

Chin and Kono offered to work on the investigation, with the help of Charlie, while Danny drove back to the hospital. He's not sure what he expects when he walks back into the room, but it certainly isn't to find Steve's head turning to meet him. Danny freezes for a moment, startled at the awareness he sees, but then he shakes it off and smiles.

"Hey babe, good to see you awake," he announces, too cheery as he makes his way to his vacated chair. "How are you feeling?"

Steve stares at him for a minute, confused, before he gently shakes his head. "I can't remember much, only bits and pieces. Did you find me?"

Danny nods and shrugs his shoulder noncommittally. "You called me actually. Luckily I was back to civilization by then." At the confused look that crosses Steve's face, Danny continues. "Grace and I were away camping for Aloha Girls, but we got rained out and ended up coming home early Sunday morning instead of that night."

Steve nods, absorbing the information. He closes his eyes for a minute, face scrunching up in thought. Danny's not sure what he's thinking, or remembering, until the moment that Steve's eyes pop open, panic and fear flooding his face.

"Jacks," he gasps out. Like before, Steve tries to sit up more, to get out of the bed. Unlike before, Danny is pretty ineffectually at keep the SEAL in place. Before, Steve had been drugged and woozy from the head wound, confused from just waking up. Now, Steve is aware and alert and clearly remembering enough to know his friend is in trouble.

"Easy Steve," Danny grits out as he grips Steve's shoulder and fights to hold him still. "I found Jacks!"

He doesn't mean to blurt it out, wasn't even sure how he was going to broach the subject with Steve. But the words are out now and they stop Steve in his tracks. Danny pushes Steve back until he's sitting on the bed once again, reclining against the mattress.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" Steve asks quickly. "Where is my phone? I need to call-"

"Babe," Danny says, voice soft with sadness. He just stares at Steve for a moment, unsure of how to voice it. He watches with a heavy heart as Steve slowly catches on, his face falling.

"No."

"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry."

"No," Steve says again, vehemently. "He's not-" He chokes on the word and presses his lips together in a hard line. He tries to get out of the bed again, fighting against Danny with all his waning strength.

"He's dead, Steve. He was shot early Thursday morning."

His words once again have Steve freezing up. He looks at Danny with broken, wounded eyes. What that means to Steve, Danny doesn't know, but its significant enough to have him slumping back, boneless. Danny barely has time to catch his arms and gently lower him back to the bed.

"I'm sorry, Steve," he says again, feeling utterly useless to help his friend as the shock finally settles in.

* * *

"What do you remember, Steve?"

Danny hates to ask. He hates the sudden deadness that has taken over Steve's eyes, the blank mask he's built up in the ten minutes Danny was out of the room talking to his doctor. He doesn't want to push Steve, but it's becoming more obvious that something bad happened right under their noses and Danny can't let that go.

"Who is Jacks?"

That question gets a response. Steve looks up, eyes growing a bit sad as he looks at Danny. For a moment, Danny isn't sure if Steve is going to answer him but then he takes a deep breath and looks away.

"I served with him," Steve answers quietly. "In the SEALs. We came up through the ranks together. Saved each other more times than I can count." Steve shifts, face tightening in pain as he forces his aching body to sit upright in the chair.

"He called me Wednesday morning, said he needed to meet me. He was cryptic and short, but I agreed." Steve runs a hand over his face, carefully avoiding the stitches. "I met up with him that night and he-" Steve stops short, glancing up at Danny. "I have to get to office." He starts to stand and Danny is quick to block is way.

"Whoa! Easy there, super SEAL. You aren't going anywhere tonight except back into that bed. Doctor's orders."

"I'll sign out AMA. I need to-"

"You need to rest," Danny insists, giving Steve's chest a gentle shove. "You are in no shape to be up and around yet, let alone working. You've got a bad concussion and-"

"And my friend is dead!"

Steve's voice isn't quite a shout, but it's the loudest Danny's heard him get in a while. Danny takes a deep breath and sighs out, hand gripping Steve's shoulder tight.

"I know. I know, babe. And I'm sorry. But that's still not an excuse for you to ignore your own injuries." Danny, seeing the fight leave Steve again, eases himself down to the edge of the bed so he's on Steve's level. "Chin and Kono and I, half of HPD and most of the lab techs, we're on this. Okay? I need you to rest right now and get better. We've got this."

Steve hesitates for a minute before he nods.

"Good," Danny decides as his phone rings. Seeing Chin's name on his screen, he sighs. "I have to take this. I'll be back in a little while, okay? Just relax, Steve."

Danny knows it's a futile request; Steve won't rest or relax until the case is wrapped up, but Danny still feels obligated to make the request. He watches Steve warily for a moment before he skirts out of the room to answer the call.

* * *

Steve eases his aching head back onto the headrest once Danny is out of sight and closes his eyes. His head is pounding and a fierce ache is settling in the back of his neck the more he forces his head to stay upright. Thankfully the nausea and dizziness have abated since the nurse had dosed him up with an antiemetic. His wrist his throbbing and his entire body aches when he moves.

Despite all of that, however, Steve is working up the energy to get up. Danny doesn't get it, doesn't realize what they've stepped into or what their kicking around is going to unearth. Jacks is already dead, killed mere hours after he and Steve had parted company. They'd broken into his home and attacked him. He can't have Danny, Chin, or Kono in danger as well.

Footsteps pausing at his doorway have Steve snapping his eyes open once again. He looks over to find Danny standing there, unreadable expression on his face. Behind him, Steve sees Chin and Kono.

"And here I thought maybe you'd actually heeded my advice and fell asleep," Danny states sarcastically, moving into the room and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Found these two lingering out in the hallway," he shrugs his shoulder towards an uncomfortable looking Kono and a somber faced Chin.

"Hey boss," Kono states, finally breaking the tension.

"How are you, brah?" Chin finally manages.

"I'm fine."

They all snort in disbelief, but at least there is a smile edging its way onto Kono's face. "You look anything but fine, boss."

Steve shrugs, regretting it a moment later when pain streaks up his neck and across his shoulders. He grits his teeth against the flash of pain and breathes roughly through it until it abates. No matter how much he tries to hide it, he knows his team sees his pain, he can tell by the look in their eyes when he glances at each of them.

"Steve, if you're ready, we'd like to get a statement from you," Chin breaks the silence, setting his phone on the tray table next to Steve. "We're still processing the evidence, but the suspect pool-"

"Is too large," Steve finishes, nodding his head gently. "I can narrow it down for you real fast."

Steve picks up Chin's phone, leaving the recording running as he pulls up the browser and starts typing. He gives up a moment later when his swollen fingers get in the way.

"Look up Olympus Security, based out of Texas," he sighs out, handing the phone back to Chin. "Jacks was working for them, they're a private security firm. He came across something and started to investigate them. They came after him and then me."

"Why you?" Danny asks.

"Because Jacks came to me for help," Steve pauses, trying desperately not to think of how much he failed his friend, failed to protect him from these people. He just hopes he can avenge his death and take down the organization for him. "Jacks didn't have anyone else he could trust. He told me what had happened, how he started investigating the firm's actions and how they came after him. He went to ground and came here; he knew he was in over his head and he needed help."

He rubs tiredly at his eyes, hissing as he hits a bruise. With a sigh, he leans his aching head back and closes his eyes. "He entrusted the information to me, needed me to protect it until he could plan his next move."

"Package secure," Danny states.

Steve's eyes snap open in surprise. "What?"

"The message you sent to Jacks, it said 'Package secure'." Danny says. "He gave you something to keep."

"Yeah," Steve sighs. "A flash drive."

"Where is it now?" Chin questions.

Steve shakes his head with a sigh. "I turned it over to them." Steve hangs his head in shame, aggravated that he couldn't hold on longer, couldn't protect the information.

"That explains the open floor safe," Chin intones. "I can't even get that door open most times. I was surprised to see it opened without force." Chin states, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Steve nods his head, eyes averted out the window as those hazy moments flash through his memory. It hits him then, what had preceded the attack, what happened after his meeting with Jacks. "I made a copy."

He looks up at Danny. "I made a copy on the laptop and took it into the office Thursday morning. It was encrypted and I needed help breaking it."

"That explains the other program that was running on your computer," Chin states with a smile. "I found the searches you had set up for Jacks and the encryption program running as well."

"I need to see the results," Steve starts to sit up straighter again, not sure when he had started to slump. He's stopped, however, both by the glare his team is sending his way and pain that rockets up into his head.

"No. The only thing you're going to be doing is getting back into bed," Danny states.

Steve starts to protest, but Kono is the one to cut him off. "You need your rest, boss. I'll bring a laptop over for you tomorrow."  
Danny turns his disapproving glare to Kono, but she isn't paying attention. Steve mulls it over for a moment before he finally nods his head in defeat. He's in no shape to be doing much right now, despite how much he wants to. Danny starts to open his mouth in protest, but a knock at the door stops him abruptly.

"Sorry guys," the nurse states as she enters the room. "Visiting hours are long over, I have to kick you out now."

She is kind enough to give them a minute, turning her back to them as she makes notes in Steve's chart. Danny sighs, but nods, standing up in front of Steve, eyeing him critically.

"All right, we'll head out. Rest tonight." Steve starts to nod his head but Danny cuts him off. "I mean it, Steve. Rest. Heal. We'll be back tomorrow." Danny hesitates for a minute, before he gives Steve's shoulder a squeeze then moves out of the way.  
Chin gives Steve a wave, but Kono steps up to him and leans down to hug him. "I know you aren't going to rest until this is over," she whispers in his ear. "Call me if you need anything." As she leans back, she gives Steve's leg a quick pat, slipping something between his thigh and the side of the chair. "Take care, boss," she says louder, giving him a smirk as she walks away.

Once they are gone, Steve slips his hand between his leg and the cushion and produces his cell phone. He smiles to himself as he unlocks the phone and finds that not only does it have a fully charged battery, but she has blessed him with remote access to the computers. _Good girl_, Steve thinks, thumbing the lock on the phone and leaning his head back with a sigh.

* * *

"Please tell me we have something," Danny pleads as he pushes through the office doors Tuesday morning. He's been in a meeting for the last two hours with the governor, updating him on the case and on Steve's condition. When he'd left, Chin had been working on getting an employee list from Olympus Security and Kono had been working on the encryption on the file from Jacks.

"Sorry, brah. Dead ends." Chin looks up from the computer long enough to deliver an answer to Danny before he goes back to work. "I can not get access to private company files without a court order. And because of jurisdictional issues, I'm having trouble finding a judge willing to sign off on one."

"Damn it," Danny swears, leaning heavily on the table.

"Once we get this file open, we might not need a court order." Chin motions to the computer where the decryption program is running. "We could always send a sketch artist over to Steve, see if he remembers enough to give us a physical description."

Danny just shakes his head. "I don't want to stress him out. His doctor is concerned that raising his blood pressure or stressing him out could start the bleeding again." Danny sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Where's Kono?" he finally questions, looking around.

"She left a little while ago, was going to keep Steve company for a bit." Chin offers up, not meeting Danny's eyes.

"She took him the laptop, didn't she?"

"Sorry, brah," Chin holds his hands up in surrender. "I tried to stop her, but she was insistent."

Danny throws his hands up in frustration before he stalks towards his office. "I'm going to call the lab and see if Fong has anything else for us. Let me know if you get anything."

* * *

Kono waltzes into Steve's hospital room carrying a duffle bag on her shoulder, a laptop tucked under her arm, and a tray with two cups of coffee in the other. She pauses long enough to tap her booted foot against the door to get his attention before she marches in. She finds Steve sitting up in the chair again, glaring down at the tray of food in front of him. When he looks up and sees her, his face brightens.

"Morning boss!" Her voice is edging on too cheerful, but Steve doesn't seem to notice. She smiles brightly at him as she drops the cups of coffee on the table in front of him. "Thought you might want some real coffee."

Steve nods appreciatively, taking one of the cups out of the holder. He takes a sip and sighs happily. "That's perfect. Thank you."

Kono puts the laptop down on the bed and opens up the duffle bag, producing a bakery bag. "If you like the coffee, then you are sure to like these."

Curiously, Steve opens the top of the bag and eyes the pastries inside. "Are those coco puffs?"

"Only the best for you, boss," Kono drags over the other chair and sits in front of Steve. She kicks her feet up on the bed and leans back with her coffee, watching as Steve digs into the first one. "Hey, save me one!"

After they've polished off the last pastry, Steve leans back, smile lingering on his face. Kono eyes him critically for a moment while his attention is diverted. His face isn't nearly as swollen as it had been when she'd first seen him, though it is still dark with bruising. His eyes seem clearer today, more focused, but she can see the lines of tension and pain around them. Briefly she wonders if he started refusing his pain meds, before she averts her eyes.

"Thank you, Kono," Steve says after the silence has stretched too long. "I really appreciate you bringing me breakfast and the laptop."

"And the clothes," Kono reminds him, nodding to the bag. "I was already at the office when I got your text so when Danny left, I raided your locker. Probably not the most comfortable clothes, but I'll bring you something else tonight."

Steve only grimaces slightly as he reaches over and picks the bag up off the floor. He rifles through the contents, coming up with a pair of cargo pants, a plain black t-shirt, socks, boxers, and his spare pair of boots just like he'd asked. Looking up, he nods and smiles to Kono. "They'll be fine."

Kono shifts uncomfortably for a minute, eyeing Steve. Slowly the pieces are clicking together and she doesn't like the picture she is seeing. "You aren't going to try and sneak out of the hospital, are you?"

"No, I won't sneak out. Promise." Steve chuckles lightly. "Just tired of these." He plucks at the hospital issued scrubs. They're better than a gown, but still not comfortable in the least.

She doesn't answer right away, watching for any sign that he's lying. After a minute of staring, Kono finally nods and stands up. "All right then." She tosses the last of her coffee in the garbage can and gives him a brief hug. "I need to get back to the office, but we'll be back later. You need anything else, Steve?"

"No," Steve shakes his head and picks up the laptop. "I'm covered now. Thanks again Kono."

She hates leaving him, hates the pit of worry that is growing in her stomach, but finally Kono forces herself out the door. The sooner they get a break in this case, the sooner things will return to normal.

* * *

It doesn't take long for Steve to push his aching body up out of the chair. He slides the IV needle out of the back of his hand, grabs his duffle bag, and heads into the bathroom. When he comes back out a few minutes later, he finds his nurse standing there glaring at him.

"You couldn't wait five more minutes for me to remove the IV properly?"

Steve just shrugs his shoulders and listens to her exasperated sigh as he sits down on the bed again. She grabs his hand and tapes a band-aid over the site with a little more force than necessary. She does, however, hold up her end of the bargain when she produces paperwork out of his file a minute later.

"I can not believe you got your doctor to agree to this," she mumbles as she signs off on her portion and hands the papers and pen over to Steve. "Signing out AMA is just stupid, but at least you're not trying to sneak out."

"I promised my team I wouldn't," Steve responds, squinting his eyes to bring the papers into focus. He scrawls his name on all the highlighted lines and quickly turns them back over.

"I took the liberty of getting these filled," the nurse hands over a bottle of meds, watching as he tucks them away in the duffle bag. "Pain meds. They're mild, as per our compromise, but you need to keep up your end and take them for the next 48 hours at least, no excuses. Your body is still healing and your head can't take too much stress right now. Understand?"

"Got it," Steve stands up, but the nurse hasn't moved. She may be a whole foot shorter than him, but she stands toe to toe with him, refusing to back down.

"I'm serious, Commander. I don't want to see you back in here in a few days with a brain bleed." With a deep sigh, she steps back, allowing him access to the door. "Please take care of yourself, Commander. Do you have a ride?"

"Yeah," he smiles at her. "I called a cab to take me … home." He hesitates on the word home, but if she notices, she doesn't say it. The nurse nods once more and motions him out the door.

* * *

As Steve steps into the hallway, he is suddenly regretting doing this by himself. A chill sets in, sending a shiver down his arms as he walks down the corridor. He knows it's all in his head, that this hallway isn't any colder than the rest of the building, but he's helpless to stop the chills. He should have waited for Danny, or asked Kono or Chin to meet him. Sure, they would've been pissed at him for leaving the hospital AMA, but they would've supported him in this.

_Too late_, Steve thinks as he stops in front of the door to the Medical Examiner's office. He takes a deep breath and knocks sharply before pushing the door open. Max looks up, startled, eyes growing impossibly wider as he takes in Steve's appearance.

"Commander!" Max quickly stands, though he stops there, shifting like he doesn't know what to do. "I wasn't expecting you. Detective Williams told me you were in the hospital."

"I was, just got released," Steve lies, closing the door behind him and forcing his feet to carry him further into the room. Dread is weighing heavily on his shoulders and he just can't seem to shake it off. "I am here about the body …"

Max nods then, pulling a file off his desk. "Yes, Detective Williams said you might identify the John D-, your friend. I'm sorry, Commander."

Steve just nods woodenly. He can't force his lips to move in reply. The words are stuck in his throat. It takes a minute before he manages to speak. "Where is he?"

Steve follows Max into the morgue, another chill crawling across his skin as they enter the room. Max walks over to the wall and pulls open one of the silver doors, something Steve has seen him do a hundred times before. This time, however, Steve has to force his body to move, to follow in Max's footsteps and stand next to the gurney he's pulled out.

Taking a deep breath, Steve reaches out and pulls back the sheet. It takes a minute for Steve to move his gaze down far enough for him to see the body, but when he does, the air rushes out of his lungs. The emotions sweep through him so fast he knees start to buckle under the force of them. He grabs the edge of the gurney and holds on tight as he breathes through it.

It's Jacks.

The words stick in his throat and Steve is helpless to do anything but stare down at the lifeless form of his friend. He takes in the bruises, the broken cheekbone, the open gashes, the bullet hole, and the incisions from the autopsy. Max has done a good job of putting Jacks back together, he thinks offhandedly. In the same thought, he realizes how badly Jacks was worked over.

They probably found him not long after he'd parted company with Steve. Maybe they had even had eyes on them at the bar. He imagines they worked him over until Steve's text came through and they realized that Steve was the one with the information now. Jacks was useless to them so they pulled the trigger and moved on.

Blowing out a breath, Steve uncurls his fingers from the gurney and drags a hand down his face. His fingers come away wet and it's only then that Steve realizes there are a few tears streaking down his cheeks. He brings his hand up again and quickly wipes the wetness away. Finally, he brings his eyes up to Max, who has his head down cast. When Max looks up, his face is somber.

"Is this your friend, Commander?"

"Yes," Steve croaks out, looking down one last time at Jacks' face. "It's Jacks."

"Okay," Max states simply, dragging the sheet back up over the body and easing the gurney back in. "There are some forms that need to be filled out," Max starts then hesitates.

"I'm claiming the body, Max," Steve clarifies for the man, following him back into his office. "I will fill out everything, but I need to get back to the office now."

"I understand. I can fax them over to you." Max offers. After hesitating, Max gently lays his hand on Steve's arm and looks up at him. "I am very sorry for your loss, Steve."

"Thank you," Steve manages to choke out before he makes a hasty retreat.

* * *

It takes another two hours before it finally happens; the encryption on the file is broken. Kono frantically waves Danny out of his office while Chin is busy scrolling through the terabytes of information stored there. Danny makes it out of his office at break-neck speeding, hoping this is the break in the case they've been searching for.

"Got it," Chin states triumphantly as Danny comes up to the computer. He slides images up on to the overhead screen. "Jacks saved employee records."

Danny looks up at the screens and the twenty some individuals pictured there. It's all their employee records for Olympus Security, but also their background checks and their military or police records. Danny is dismayed to find out they are all ex-military or ex-cops. This is only a step in the right direction.

"Let's run their faces through the database, find out if any of them arrived in Hawaii in the last week. Kono, start running financial information on all of them. I'll call the governor and see if we can't get a judge to sign off on a warrant now." Danny starts to pull out his phone to call the governor when a voice stops him.

"Don't waste your time."

Danny, Chin, and Kono all turn around to find Steve standing in the doorway, eyes fixed on the screens. After a moment, he drags his gaze down to meet them. He looks rough, pale and drawn, face lined with pain and exhaustion. Despite that, he walks over to them like normal, like he's not recovering from a brutal assault.

"What in the hell are y-" Danny starts, but Steve holds up his casted hand to halt his protest.

"I didn't sneak out, I signed out." Steve offers up, not looking the least bit sheepish.

"Yeah, against medical advice! What are you thinking? Did you not listen to your doctor?" Danny protests, face growing redder by the minute.

Steve opens his mouth like he's going to respond, but then he snaps it shut. He just shakes his head and turns away from Danny. It doesn't matter what he says in this moment, they all know, Danny won't back down. Instead of fighting him, Steve chooses to ignore him, looking instead to the face on the screen.

"This one," Steve taps a picture and enlarges it on the full screen. Scott Monroe, retired Marine. He's got pale green eyes and a dark buzz cut. Just looking at his face doesn't draw a memory, but it's the little pieces, his eyes, a slightly crooked nose, a jagged scar near his hairline, that are standing out to him. Steve closes his eyes and recalls the face of the man he'd choked out and when he opens his eyes, he staring at the same man. "He's one of them."

Chin jumps on it, pulling up any information he can find on Scott Monroe while Kono start typing away on a laptop, running his picture and financials through all the data bases. Danny, however, doesn't take his eyes off Steve. He eyes him critically, but whatever argument he was prepared with before dies on his lips.

"How many of them were there?" He asks, coming to stand next to Steve. He rests a hand on Steve's back for a moment in a silent apology.

"Three," Steve answers distractedly as he looks at all the other faces Jacks had tracked down, trying to find one that looks familiar. "Two males, one female. The men were the muscle, she was definitely in charge."

"Well that should narrow it down a little. There are only a handful of women on the payroll," Danny offers up. He pulls up the profiles of the four women in Jacks file and pushes them to the big screens.

Steve looks at each one, studying their faces and their histories. He shakes his head. "I can't remember," he rubs his hand along his forehead and sighs.

"Okay, take it easy," Danny rubs a hand up Steve's back, feeling the tension thrumming through his body. "We'll narrow it down. Can you remember anything about her?"

Steve closes his eyes again and tries to remember, tries to drift back through the hazy images and holes in his memory until he can see her. "Dark hair, blue eyes. She's small framed." When he opens his eyes, Danny is taking down two of the pictures, a blonde and a red head.

"Down to two. Theresa Milton or Natalie Peterson."

"Natalie," Steve murmurs quietly, then repeats it louder. "The one guy called her Nat"

Danny looks over to Chin. "Run a search on Natalie Peterson."

"Got it."

"Do you remember anything about the third attacker?" Danny asks, bringing up the rest of the images from the file.

Steve scans them one by one, growing more and more frustrated by the minute. All he can see are hazy images in his head and hear snippets of conversations. "I can't see-" Steve hesitates when he scrolls to the next picture. It's not that he recognizes the face, but rather the name. _Thomas VanHorn._ "Him."

Danny doesn't even need to ask this time, Chin and Kono are already typing away again. After a minute, Chin looks up from the screens.

"I'm running them now, but I'm sure their military records are sealed. We won't get much from running their records unless they were arrested for anything," Chin states.

"I'm running their financials now. We'll see if they purchased any airline tickets to Hawaii or if they've used their credit cards on island." Kono starts. "Their names aren't coming up at any hotels as registered guests, and I can't find a car rental under any of them either."

"What about the company?" Steve questions after a moment. "They were coming after Jacks so they probably aren't using their real names or credit cards. See if anything was booked through Olympus Security or a subsidiary of it."

"Let's see if we can get airport cameras as well, see if we can't run facial recognition and find them arriving in Hawaii." Danny offers up, already pulling out his phone.

Steve just nods. "Okay. Let me know if you get anything. I have some paperwork to fill out." With that, Steve heads off to his office.

* * *

When Danny pokes his head into Steve's office an hour later, he's surprised to find paperwork littering the desk. Steve is hunched over all of it, squinting at the paper beneath his nose. Danny picks one up and realizes it's a pamphlet for a funeral home. Spreading out a few more, he realizes they are all about funeral homes and casket options.

"Babe, what's all this?" Danny asks. As he moves around the side of Steve's desk, he eyes the heading on the form Steve is working on. It's a release form for a body to be moved to a funeral home for burial. The name of the deceased: Jonathan Jackson, and the name of the next of kin: Steven J. McGarrett. "Babe …" Danny starts, realizing the implication.

"He has no other family," Steve states, not looking up from the paperwork. "There is no one left to bury him. It's the least I can do for him after everything he's done for me."

Danny eases his hip down on the side of the desk and rests his hand on Steve's arm. "I'm sorry. I know you just lost your friend. I know this is difficult for you and I haven't exactly been going easy on you." He gives Steve's shoulder a squeeze. "Is there anything I can do?"

Steve just shakes his head then finally looks up at Danny. Danny realizes then why Steve had kept his head downturned the entire time, his eyes are red and swimming with unshed tears. "No, I'm okay. Just help me catch the bastards that killed him."

"And assaulted you," Danny reminds him, voice pained.

A quick knock comes at the door before Kono pushes it open, her face flushed. "You're gonna want to hear this," she states before darting back out of the room again.

Steve stands quickly, dragging his good hand across his face to erase the tears and follows Kono out, Danny on his heels.  
"They were inbound on a flight to Honolulu from Dallas, arrived here Wednesday afternoon," Chin states without preamble. He slides airport surveillance up showing their three suspects exiting the plane. "Their tickets were booked last minute by a company called Atlantis, a subsidiary of Olympus Security. Two were first class under the names Clare and Robert Daniels. The third was a regular ticket under the name Henry Wilson."

"I ran those names and found they were staying at a motel two blocks from where Jacks was staying," Kono offers up. "They rented a car from Paradise Car Rentals under Henry Wilson's name. The car was returned an hour ago."

"They're leaving tonight," Steve states, glancing at the clock. "At this time of night, they would only need an hour or so to get through security and get to their gate. We need to shut that airport down."

"I've already got a call into airport security," Chin assures him. "The TSA is prepared to shut down the flight but they can't shut down the entire airport. As soon as we know what flight they are on-"

"US Airways Flight 376 to Dallas," Kono interrupts. "Flight is scheduled to depart at 10:15."

Steve glances at the clock. 8:50. "Okay, get the TSA on the line, have them board the flight but don't let it take off. Also, see if we can't get plain clothes officers on that flight or if there are any Air Marshals on board."

"Are you expecting a lot of trouble?" Danny ask curiously as Chin moves off to place the call. "They can't be armed with much; they had to go through security."

"They're on a plane full of civilians and they are all highly trained ex-military. I'm not taking any chances. I'll take the back up."  
Danny nods, not saying another word. Steve gives the images on the screen one last glance before he moves over to the weapons case and starts assembling a rifle.

"TSA is holding the flight. There are two plainclothes TSA agents going to be on board and three Air Marshals. They've all been informed of the situation and are being placed accordingly around the plane." Chin states, hanging up the phone.

"Let's gear up, then." Steve states picking up his tac vest and rifle. Steve pauses only long enough to slide his badge onto his belt before he makes his way out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**PART FOUR**

Outside the airport, Steve pulls the tac vest over his head, but is fumbling with the side straps when Danny steps up wordlessly to help. He tugs the vest into place and secures the Velcro straps across Steve's chest. When Steve winces slightly, Danny pauses.

"Are you going to be okay," he questions quietly, laying a hand on Steve's arm. "Physically and … otherwise?" Danny waves a hand indicating Steve's casted arm and his bruised body.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Danno," Steve tries for a smile that falls a bit flat. The use of the nickname, however, eases some of the worry in Danny's chest.

"All right. I trust you. If you need to-"

"I will." Steve interrupts him. "Promise."

Danny nods and gives the vest a little tug, making sure it's on properly before he reaches down and picks up Steve's rifle. He knows Steve can probably still fieldstrip a weapon faster than him even with one arm in a cast, but Danny checks it for him anyway before handing it over. Steve accepts it with a small smile on his face before he turns to face Chin and Kono.

"Let's do this."

They sweep through the airport fast, flashing badges as they push through crowds. At the security gates, they meet up with a TSA officer who ushers them around the metal detectors and jogs with them through the airport until they reach the gate.

"Flight 376 to Dallas," he reiterates, waving towards the flight board that shows the flight as departing. "All passengers are boarded and accounted for. The flight crews and pilots have been informed, but the rest of the passengers think they are waiting for a storm to blow over. The passengers you are looking for in 36E, 36F, and 42 B."

"Thank you," Danny utters to the officer when Steve remains silent.

The officer nods and opens the security door to the boarding tunnel. The team stacks up behind Steve and they make their way down the tunnel, guns raised. When they reach the last bend before the plane's door, Steve holds up his hand for them to stop. Slowly he eases around the corner and finds the co-pilot waiting for them. The co-pilot gives the door a tug and it opens the rest of the way. Steve waves the team on as he quickly boards the plane.

All the passengers start to gasp as they board, staring with wide-eyes at them as they pass. Chin and Kono take one aisle while Danny and Steve go down the other, eyes scanning the faces as well as the seat numbers. As they near the 30s, Steve catches sight of a woman sitting with her head facing down and a man with a blanket pulled partially over his face as if he were asleep. Steve motions to his team and they converge on the couple. Steve grabs the man's arm while Kono grabs the woman.

"Hey! What the hell?!" The man protests, but Steve is knocking his hat off and spinning the man to face him. The man's eyes widen when he takes in Steve's face.

"Thomas VanHorn, you are under arrest," Steve declares as Danny slips the handcuffs over the man's wrist.

A man stands up from the seat in front of them and flashes an Air Marshal badge at Steve. Steve quickly hands Tommy over to the Marshal and only spares a moment to assure Chin and Kono have their suspect in custody before he and Danny move on. As they start heading towards the back of the plane, a man quickly jumps from his seat, climbing over the lap of another passenger as he tries to get out of the way.

Steve picks up the pace, lowering his gun in favor of kicking out a leg as he nears the scrambling suspect. The man hits the ground hard, groaning in protest as Steve quickly hauls him to his feet. It only takes one look at the man to know he's their third suspect.

"Scott Monroe, you are under arrest," Steve wrestles the guy's arm up behind his back and marches him back down the aisle where he meets up with Danny and another Air Marshal.

Danny quickly cuffs the man before handing him off to the Marshal. The two Marshals head off the plane first. When Chin and Kono start to head out, Steve stops them, intercepting Natalie. She just smirks up at Steve.

"Good luck making it stick," Natalie whispers, eyes glinting.

Steve hesitates for a moment before he starts to pat her down. She starts to protest until Steve's eyes land on the chain around her neck. Steve grasps the chain and gives it a tug. The chain snaps and comes free in his hand. As he pulls it, the end slips out from beneath her shirt revealing a small USB drive.

"_This_ will make it stick," Steve states coldly, bagging the chain and the drive, slipping it in his pocket. "He has more dirt on you and your company than you ever realized." With that, he gives her a nudge and marches her off the plane.

* * *

Steve glances at the mirror one last time, straightening his tie and smoothing the lapels of his jacket. He wiggles his fingers in the cast and tugs the sleeve down around it. It's a tight fit, and may take him a while to work his arm back out of the sleeve, but it works. There is not much he can do about the fading bruises or the stitches; it's as good as it's going to get. Sighing, Steve steps away from the mirror and picks his dress hat off the counter.

Steve makes his way out of the small hotel bathroom, palming his keys and heading out the door. He can feel eyes on him as he makes his way through the lobby. He wishes now that he had accepted Danny's offer to stay with him, if only to avoid this, the curious eyes of sunburned travellers. When he reaches his truck, Steve slides in behind the wheel and takes a deep breath. Sliding on his sunglasses, Steve pulls out and heads towards the cemetery.

Jacks didn't have any family left to bury him, so Steve was not expecting much of a crowd for his funeral. As he parks his truck, Steve is awed at the sea of uniforms around the gravesite. Slipping the hat on his head, Steve gets out of the truck and makes his way across grass. As he nears the crowd, Steve is stunned to see three individuals standing off from the crowd, still dressed in uniform, but not military style. He doesn't need them to turn around to know who they are. A warm feeling fills his chest as he makes his way towards them.

Danny spots him first, turning around and giving him a small wave. Steve comes to a stop in front of them. He hasn't seen much of them since making the arrests. He's spent the last three days arranging the funeral, giving statements to the DA, and arranging to have his house cleaned up once again. Despite leaving the hospital AMA and making the arrests, the governor has still put him 10 days of medical leave.

"Come here, your tie is crooked," Danny says by way of greeting. Steve knows it's not, he checked it before he left, but he steps up to Danny anyway. Danny makes a fuss of straightening his tie and lapels, but its all for show. His eyes are fixed on Steve's the whole time. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm fine, Danny," he replies. When Danny just gives him a look, Steve tries again. "Really, I'm okay." He offers up a half smile, which must appease Danny because he steps back.

"How's the case going?"

"Closed," Chin states simply. "Jacks did a good job of collecting intel on his employer. He built a solid case against them. We've turned over the information to the FBI, it's their case now."

"We closed Jacks' case," Kono adds, knowing that Steve needs to hear it. "Natalie is being charged with the murder, but the other two are being charged with manslaughter. They are also being charged with counts of aggravated assault in your case."  
Steve nods and sighs. "Is there enough to convict them of the murder?"

"Ample," Danny answers firmly. "Especially when one of the guys rolled on the whole operation. They're not getting out of it."

"Good," Steve nods. They were able to bring Jacks justice and bring down the operation that had taken his life. Looking at his team, Steve wishes he had the words to thank them properly, to let them know how much he appreciates what they have done for him, for Jacks. When he looks in their eyes, though, Steve thinks they might just know it anyway. It's not perfect, but it's enough.

* * *

End.


End file.
